Despite the bitterly cold weather, the usual suspects and a couple of new recruits (welcome to Jenna and Caroline, and welcome back Eleanor) made it along to our latest meeting where the theme was “Healthy Bakes”. Everyone seemed to have been inspired by the over-indulgence of the festive period and baked a good selection of treats that were kinder to our waistlines than our normal offerings.
After a quick catch-up with friends old and new, Janice opened the meeting and did an excellent job of standing in for Gillian. Janice has been working on re-launching the Bake Club website and as part of that provided everyone with a name badge with our new logo – as she pointed out, we have all passed the point where we can politely ask someone’s name now that we’ve been meeting-up for so long!
“Have You Ever….?” bingo proved to be a big hit and was a great way to get everyone mingling – fortunately the questions were baking-related otherwise we may have ended up seeing each other in a whole new light! (although there were some surprising baking skeletons in the closet!)
Janice provided a few more details about the new website and has asked everyone to provide her with any ideas for things they would like to see on it – one of the first things will be a “Recipe Binder” where we can share some of our favourite recipes. The dates for the next couple of meetings and their theme will also be included.
The “Baking Surgery” started with Janice posing the question “Did anyone get any baking books or gadgets for Xmas”? Janette was given a Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin which has helped with the tricky task of getting pastry the same thickness all over and Janice received an adjustable cake tin which she was hoping to use before baby no.2 arrived – not sure how that worked out given that Devyn has put in an appearance 12 days early! We all shared the recipe for our bakes and how they were considered “healthy” – Rab’s Amaretto Cake went down particularly well, especially when we discovered there were only 250 calories per slice!
The next meeting date is 27th February with the theme “Bread or Pastry”.

Janice Earl-Summers – Skinny Cheese & Bacon Muffins
Christine Turnbull – Bran Loaf
Delyth Macdonald – Fat-free Fruit Loaf
Janette Symonds – Carrot Cake
Eleanor Swan – Blueberry Muffins
Julie Zasada – Fruity Sponge
Caroline Garland – Bitter Orange Cake
Rab Stewart – Amaretto Cake
Natalie Downs – Low-fat Sponge
Carol Hallesy – All Bran & Fruit Loaf
Joanne Cook – Lemon Tart
Sheena Earl – Weetabix Loaf
Jenna Beadle – Lighter Spiced Carrot Cake
Gillian de Felice – Fruit & Bran Muffins